This study offers an edition and fresh analysis of the fragmentary evidence for the views of Praxagoras of Cos (4th-3rd c. BC) on arteries, pulsation and pneuma. It presents the relevant fragments ...and draws new conclusions on Praxagoras' views and sources.
This paper examines the effects of the emergence of pulse measurement as an essential diagnosis and prognosis method used on Graeco-Roman patients. It argues that the introduction of this diagnostic ...tool brought about changes to the encounter between patients and their doctors and may have also increased intimacy and patients' forthcomingness during these encounters. The paper demonstrates that the popularity and conspicuity of the practical and theoretical engagement with the pulse afforded many opportunities for the transmission of professional knowledge from doctors to patients. It argues that this transmission of knowledge was often actively encouraged by doctors for the sake of self-promotion and promotion of the medical profession as a whole. At the same time, doctors also attempted to restrict this transmission of knowledge in order to use their exclusive competence in the pulse as means for establishing their authority and superiority over patients.
Gregoric and Lewis present new or underplayed evidence that lends support to the conclusion that De spiritu was not composed by Aristotle, despite its similarities with Aristotle's genuine works in ...points of terminology and doctrine. The doctrinal points raised above suggest implicit or explicit divergence from Aristotle's attested views, some of the divergences being related to substantive issues. He indicates further conceptual--rather than just terminological--differences. In light of these points, the fact that some terms used in De spiritu are not found in Aristotle's genuine works becomes more than mere evidence from silence.
The Context of "De Spiritu" Lewis, Orly; Gregoric, Pavel
Early science and medicine,
01/2015, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper underlines the importance of the Pseudo-Aristotelian treatise De spiritu for our knowledge of early Hellenistic anatomical and physiological theories. We claim that the treatise verifies ...reports on certain 4th- and 3rd-century conceptions and debates otherwise attested only in later sources, and offers invaluable information on otherwise unknown ideas and discussions. Our claim is based on ten case-studies in which we explore the relation between the views found in De spiritu and known to us from other ancient sources, regarding ten specific topics. Following the results of our case-studies, we argue that De spiritu should be dated to the early decades of the 3rd century BC, after the circulation of the doctrines of Praxagoras of Cos, but before the discovery of the central nervous system by Herophilus and Erasistratus.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
8.
The Substance of "De Spiritu" Gregoric, Pavel; Lewis, Orly; Kuhar, Martin
Early science and medicine,
01/2015, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The aim of this paper is to depict the anatomical and physiological doctrines of the treatise entitled Περὶ πνεύματος, or De spiritu. By closely examining the contents of the treatise on its own ...accord, rather than through its Aristotelian or Hellenistic contexts, we attempt to overcome the aporetic and often disconnected style of the author, and to present a coherent picture of his doctrine of pneuma, its roles in the body, the anatomical structures in which it acts, and its relation to the soul. We argue that the author envisions three main systems in the body: artēriai, by which external air is taken in, turned into pneuma and distributed to different parts of the body; phlebes, by which blood is produced and distributed; bones and neura, which support the body and effect locomotion. Pneuma is shown to run through the system of artēriai, whereby it performs vital activities such as thermoregulation, digestion and pulsation. It is also engaged in activities such as perception and locomotion, in the form of the "connate pneuma," which, we propose, is a component of bodily parts. The author connects pneuma very closely with soul, and although he is familiar with Aristotle's doctrine of the soul, he does not see to embrace it.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
9.
Galen on the Pulse Lewis, Orly
The Oxford Handbook of Galen,
05/2024
Book Chapter
This chapter sets out Galen’s theory and method concerning the pulse. It walks the reader through the clinical and diagnostic process related to the pulse, as Galen perceived it and following the ...path he set in his instruction of “the art of the pulse”: from physiology, through the classification of the different pulses, to the practical method of taking the pulse, identifying its characteristics and drawing diagnostic conclusions from it. The core of this chapter focuses on his pulse works and his teachings there; the penultimate section explores the extent to which those teachings are reflected in the rest of the Galenic corpus. The conclusion offers some overarching observations concerning Galen’s pulse works and the difference between the handbook style of other pulse works of the time and Galen’s extensive polemical and discursive treatises.
At first sight, MS.MSL.14 seems rather inconspicuous. It is a very small pocket-sized book which has obviously been handled and perused extensively. The manuscript has a clearly defined structure, ...with items one to seven on the first 46 pages presenting introductory material, including a substantial proportion of Pseudo-Hippocratic content. This section was probably copied in its entirety from another source. It is followed by 225 pages of therapeutic content with a substantial part of the content consisting of recipes. Overall, the therapeutic section of this manuscript caters for diverse audiences, ranging from those who would not necessarily have any medical training to skilled doctors, or pharmacists for that matter. Throughout the volume, the materia medica described is generally of a simpler nature than for instance in Galen or Paul of Aegina, but still quite varied; the samples translated are representative in that respect.
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